Five new domestic flights are coming to Vancouver Island airports as WestJet tries to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new routes include flights between Ottawa-Victoria, Saskatoon-Victoria, Winnipeg-Victoria, Edmonton-Nanaimo and Toronto-Comox.
They’re five of 11 flights announced Friday that will offer non-stop service for 15 communities around the country.
“As we look to the coming months with cautious optimism, we know our restart agenda will be pivotal to Canada’s economic recovery,” said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. “Stimulating air travel benefits all Canadians and supports those hardest hit; with one in every 10 Canadian jobs tied to travel and tourism, the ripple effect benefits our whole country.”
Sims said the restart agenda is buoyed by the immunization rollout and the fact that summer months will allow Canadians to spend more time outdoors.
“If Canadians were to shift two-thirds of their planned international lesiure travel towards domestic tourism, it would help sustain 150,000 jobs and accelerate recovery by one year, all whiel seeing what Canada has to offer.”
The full list of new WestJet flights is available below, with most of them becoming available as of June 24, 2021.
|
Route |
Frequency |
Effective from |
|
Toronto – Fort McMurray |
2x weekly (Wed, Sun) |
June 6, 2021 |
|
Kelowna – Saskatoon |
2x weekly (Thu, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Kelowna – Regina |
2x weekly (Thu, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Saskatoon – Victoria |
2x weekly (Thu, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Winnipeg – Victoria |
3x weekly (Thu, Sat, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Edmonton – Kamloops |
2x weekly (Thu, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Edmonton – Penticton |
2x weekly (Thu, Sun) |
June 24, 2021 |
|
Edmonton – Nanaimo |
2x weekly (Fri, Sun) |
June 25, 2021 |
|
Prince George – Abbotsford |
2x weekly (Fri, Sun) |
June 25, 2021 |
|
Ottawa – Victoria |
1x weekly (Sat) |
June 26, 2021 |
|
Toronto – Comox |
1x weekly (Sat) |
June 26, 202 |
Jeff Lawrence
